OCEAN

CURRENTS AND
TOPOGRAPHY

Reporters: Kylie and Mary

LEARNING At the end of this lesson, students
OBJECTIVES
are expected to:
• Understand the meaning of ocean topography and the
formation of ocean currents
• Describe the mechanisms driving the circulation of
ocean currents
• Evaluate the impact of ocean currents on climate and
marine ecosystems
 OCEAN
CURRENT
 GOOD TO KNOW

Ocean
A large body of salt water
surrounding continental land
masses.
ocean current
the movement of water from one
location to another
Circulation
Water movement in the ocean

Currents
Cohesive streams of seawater circulate through the oceans. Currents are also water
masses in motion.

Water Mass
a body of water identifiable from its temperature, salinity or chemical content.

Upper water mass

includes the well-mixed surface layers of the ocean and the thermocline.

Deep water mass

includes the water below the thermocline to the bottom of the ocean.
Ocean current, a stream made up of horizontal and
vertical components of the circulation system of
ocean waters that is produced by gravity, wind
friction, and water density variation in different parts
of the ocean.
Ocean currents are similar to winds in the
atmosphere in that they transfer significant amounts
of heat from Earth’s equatorial areas to the poles and
thus play important roles in determining the climates
of coastal regions. In addition, ocean currents and
atmospheric circulation influence one another.
TYPES OF OCEAN
CURRENTS
Surface currents
◦ Surface circulation
◦ Wind-driven
◦ Warm and cold current
◦ Faster movement
◦ Primarily horizontal motion
◦ 10% of the total ocean water
deep water currents
◦ Thermohaline circulation
◦ Driven by differences in density caused by
differences in temperature and salinity
◦ Sluggish movement
◦ Cold current
◦ Vertical and horizontal motions
◦ 90% of the total ocean water
TYPES OF OCEAN
CURRENTS
Surface currents deep water currents
◦ Transfer heat from warmer to cooler ◦ Provide oxygen to deep sea
areas
◦ Similar to the pattern of major wind
belts
◦ Affect coastal climates
PRIMARY FORCES AND EFFECTS OF OCEAN
CURRENTS
Ocean currents are driven by the following:
1. Solar Heating
2. Winds
3. Gravity
4. Coriolis Force

Effects of Ocean currents:

1. transfer heat from tropical to polar regions
2. influence weather and climate
3. distribute nutrients and scatter organisms
 solar heating
• The distribution of solar
heating is not uniform.
• The equator receives more heat
than the polar regions.
• Solar heating causes water to
expand and move
Winds
• The wind is caused by pressure gradient force.
• Pressure gradient force results in a net force that is
directed from high to low pressure
• The variation of pressure is caused by differential
solar heating.
• Coriolis force modify the movements of the wind
creating the global wind belts.
• Surface currents are wind-driven circulation.
 GRAVITY
• pull water downhill or pile
against the pressure gradient
(high/low)
• Causes geostrophic current
together with Coriolis force
• influences tides
Coriolis Force
• Caused by Earth’s rotation, faster at the
equator than at the poles
• Changes the intended path of all moving
bodies (winds and currents).
• Motions are deflected to the right in the
northern hemisphere and left in the southern
hemisphere
• Causes the gyres and wind belts
At the surface, aspects of wind-driven circulation
cause the gyres (large anticyclonic current cells that
spiral about a central point) to displace their centres
westward, forming strong western boundary currents
against the eastern coasts of the continents, such as
the Gulf Stream–North Atlantic–Norway Current in
the Atlantic Ocean and the Kuroshio–North Pacific
Current in the Pacific Ocean.
GYRES
• Large, circular loops of moving water
• Bounded by:
◦ Equatorial current
◦ Western Boundary currents
◦ Northern or Southern Boundary currents ◦ Eastern
Boundary currents
• Centered around 30 degrees latitude N and S
Ocean currents act much like a conveyer
belt, transporting warm water and
precipitation from the equator toward the
poles and cold water from the poles back to
the tropics. Thus, currents regulate global
climate, helping to counteract the uneven
distribution of solar radiation reaching
Earth's surface.
TOPOGRAPHY
 TOPOGRAPHY
It is the study of the forms and
features of land surfaces.
The topography of an area may
refer to the land forms and features
themselves, or a description or
depiction in maps.
PRIMARY GOAL OF
TOPOGRAPHY
to determine the position of any feature or
more generally any point in terms of both
a horizontal coordinate system such as
latitude, longitude, and altitude
WHAT IS A TOPOGRAPHER?
- An expert or specialist in
topography.
- A person who describes or
maps the topography of a place or
region.
CONTOUR LINES
It is a line drawn on a
topographic map to
indicate ground elevation
or depression.
The terms "topo" for "place" and "graphia"
for "writing" are the roots of the word
topography.
It has a tight relationship to surveying and
geodesy, both of which deal with precisely
measuring the ground surface. Furthermore,
it has a strong connection to geography and
mapping programs like GIS.
The precise measurement
and comprehension of the
Earth's geometric form,
direction in space, and S Y
gravity field is known as
D E
geodesy.
E O
G
It is the study of precisely
measuring and comprehending
the three basic properties of the
Earth.
contour lines
 Thank You
for Listening!